The

England cricket team The England cricket team represents England and Wales in international cricket. Since 1997, it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club (the MCC) since 1903. Engla ...

toured South Africa during November and December 2020 to play three

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

(ODI) and three

Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

(T20I) matches. However, the ODI matches were called off due to a

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

outbreak. The ODI series would have formed part of the inaugural 2020–2023 ICC Cricket World Cup Super League. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the England team stayed in a bio-secure environment whilst in South Africa, with the matches played in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

and

Paarl Paarl (; Afrikaans: ; derived from ''Parel'', meaning "pearl" in Dutch) is a town with 112,045 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the third-oldest city and European settlement in the Republic of South Africa (after ...

. In October 2020,

Cricket South Africa Cricket South Africa (CSA) is the governing body for both professional and amateur cricket in South Africa. In 1991, the separate South African Cricket Union and the South African Cricket Board merged to form the United Cricket Board of South Afr ...

(CSA) made a plea to its parliament, saying that is of "critical importance", while waiting on government approval for the tour to go ahead. On 21 October 2020, both cricket boards agreed to the series, with the full tour itinerary being confirmed. England won the first two T20I matches to take an unassailable lead in the series. England won the third match by nine wickets to take the series 3–0, with the victory putting England at the top of the

ICC T20I Championship The ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings is an international Twenty20 cricket rankings system of the International Cricket Council. After every T20I match, the two teams involved receive points based on a mathematical formula. The total of each team's p ...

. The first ODI match, originally scheduled to be played on 4 December, was cancelled less than an hour before it was due to start, after a South African player tested positive for

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...

. As a result, the fixture was moved back by two days. However, on 6 December, the rescheduled match was abandoned after two members of the hotel staff tested positive for coronavirus. Shortly after the match was called off, two members of England's touring party returned "unconfirmed positive tests" for the virus. Later the same day, the

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the Sports governing body, national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test and ...

(ECB) confirmed that the second ODI, scheduled for 7 December, would not be played on that date. On 7 December, the remainder of the ODI series was postponed. Both cricket boards agreed to work on hosting the ODI series at another time.

Squads

Jake Ball,

Tom Banton Thomas Banton (born 11 November 1998) is an English cricketer. He made his international debut for the England cricket team in November 2019. Domestic and franchise career Banton made his Twenty20 cricket debut for Somerset in the 2017 NatWest ...

, Tom Helm were also named as reserves for England across both formats.

Kagiso Rabada Kagiso Rabada (born 25 May 1995) is a South African international cricketer who plays all formats of the game. He is a right arm fast bowler. He made his international debut in November 2014 in limited-overs cricket before going on to make his ...

was ruled out of South Africa's ODI squad after picking up a groin injury during the T20I series. South Africa also rested

Faf du Plessis Francois "Faf" du Plessis ( ; born 13 July 1984) is a South African professional cricketer and former captain of the South Africa national cricket team. He is considered one of the greatest fielders of all time and is among the best all-forma ...

Pite van Biljon Pite van Biljon (born 15 April 1986) is a South African cricketer who plays for Free State. He made his international debut for the South Africa cricket team in February 2020. His sister, Suzaan, competed at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics in the ...

Bjorn Fortuin Imaad Fortuin (born Bjorn Fortuin; 21 October 1994) is a South African professional cricketer. He made his international debut for the South Africa cricket team in September 2019. Domestic career He was included in the North West cricket team sq ...

and

Reeza Hendricks Reeza Raphael Hendricks (born 14 August 1989) is a South African cricketer who plays for Gauteng and for the South Africa national cricket team. He is a right-handed opening batsman. He made his international debut for South Africa in November 2 ...

for the ODI series.

Practice matches

A South Africa intra-squad warm-up match, due to take place on 21 November, was cancelled after two players tested positive for coronavirus. A second match, scheduled to be played on 23 November, was also cancelled in an attempt to limit the impact of any possible infections. Conversely, England played one 40-over intra-squad match and one 20-over intra-squad match, with

Jos Buttler Joseph Charles Buttler (born 8 September 1990) is an English cricketer who captains the England cricket team in limited overs cricket, and plays for the England Test team. In domestic cricket he represents Lancashire, having previously played ...

and

Eoin Morgan Eoin (, or ) is an Irish name. The Scottish Gaelic equivalent is () and both are closely related to the Welsh . It is also cognate with the Irish . In the Irish language, it is the name used for all Biblical figures known as ''John'' in Engli ...

named as the team captains. ----

T20I series

1st T20I

2nd T20I

3rd T20I

ODI series

1st ODI

2nd ODI

3rd ODI

References

External links

Series home at ESPN Cricinfo
{{DEFAULTSORT:English cricket team in South Africa in 2020-21 2020 in English cricket 2020 in South African cricket International cricket competitions in 2020–21 English cricket tours of South Africa Cricket events curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic